


The more blissful the ignorance, the more painful the realization

by SmugLookingBarrel



Series: Judge not, lest ye be judged [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Gen, Genocide Frisk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 03:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7343299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmugLookingBarrel/pseuds/SmugLookingBarrel





	The more blissful the ignorance, the more painful the realization

Sans woke up in his house in Snowdin, just like every time the kid reset. He knew that in just a moment, Papyrus was going to…

“Sans! Wake up, you lazy bones! We need to patrol for humans!”

Oh, I’ve found humans, alright, thought Sans. He desperately wanted for Papyrus to stay home, he didn’t know what that kid would do if they found him.

“Papyrus, I’m sure there won’t be any humans today, why don’t we… take the day off, and go check on Alphys? I’m sure she’d love to hang out with you for a day.”

“No, Sans! If I’m going to be in the royal guard, I have to stay vigilant at all times! What if a human comes through while I’m away?”

Of course, that is exactly what Sans was afraid of. He should have known that I couldn’t convince Papyrus to leave, lord knows he's tried quite a few things over the resets.

“Then, can we stick together today? Please?”

“Aww, Sans, of course! If you’re afraid of being defeated by the human, the great Papyrus will certainly stand by your side! I won’t let any human hurt you!”

“Alright, let’s go patrol for humans together. I have a feeling we might see one today.”

“Oh really! I can’t wait! …You’d better not be getting my hopes up for nothing, Sans.”

“We’ll see.”

Meanwhile…

… For the second time, Toriel gave me a hug. I remember how comforting it was the first time, how it filled my soul with warmth. Now, it seemed so… cold. When she hugged me, all I could think of were the six other humans that had hugged her before, how this was the last hug each of them received, before they were killed by the friend Toriel had made through the wall. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her pun-loving friends was responsible for murdering her children, so I simply wriggled out of the hug and left in silence.

I half expected to meet Sans on the pathway to Snowdin, perhaps prepared for a battle, but I saw nobody. As I threw the stick for the many creatures in the royal guard that resembled dogs, I had to keep reminding myself that these weren’t dogs. They were monsters, as close to their overworld counterparts as Undyne is to a goldfish. They wanted me dead, and for some reason their ire was sated by a stick. I kept one at hand to drive them away. Before I made it to the town, I encountered a familiar… not face. It was Papyrus, and without a lamp to hide behind, I confronted him. He began to recite his speech, the same as I had heard it last time. But this time, something caught my attention: something he said, that told me a lot more than what was spoken:

“…And then I’ll deliver you to Undyne! And then… I don’t know what will happen…”

“W-what do you mean you don’t know?”

“I… haven’t actually seen any humans before.”

“I… guess that’s why you mistook me for a rock just now?”

“Uh… yea!”

“Well as funny as that is, I’d prefer to… you know… stay alive.”

“Of course, human! I only need to capture you! Then we can hang out at my place and eat spaghetti!”

“That’s… not what I meant.”

“I… don’t understand, human.”

“Don’t you know what happens to humans that get captured? You’ve surely been around for the last ones.”

“Whenever a human shows up, everybody is supposed to lock themselves in their homes and shut the windows. It’s a safety precaution, or something. I’m always so worried, because Sans is always caught somewhere else. I know Grillby’s locks down as well, so  
I assume he hides there. Once we’re allowed outside, the human is already gone. They don’t tell us where they went. After the last human, it was decided that the curfew be lifted, but you’re the first human to come by since. I, the great Papyrus, will be the first to capture a human, outside of the royal guard!”

“Do they… really not tell you what happens to them?”

“No. I do wonder sometimes.”

“They’re all… dead. Every last one of them.”

“What! That can’t be! Surely you’re mistaken, human. King ASGORE would never hurt a kid like you.”

“The six coffins in his throne room beg to differ.”

“What? No! Asgore is a really nice guy! I’m sure he’d just take what he needed from the humans and then let them go.”

“Papyrus, he needs their SOULS. You can’t extract the soul from a live human, the same as you can’t extract it from a live monster. In order to break the barrier, they had to die. I have to die. And with the power of seven human souls, ASGORE will wipe out humanity. Which is why I must stop you.”

“I… no! ASGORE would never… there must be some mistake! He’s way too nice to…”

Papyrus was in tears now. I almost felt bad, almost felt like… even though he was a direct threat to me and my species, he didn’t deserve this. But I’m sad to say the worst had yet to come. For I had the sneaking suspicion there was another thing he didn’t know about the six humans.

“That’s because… it wasn’t Asgore… who killed them. He ordered them dead, yes, but they died by the hands of another.”

“Who? Who killed them? Oh no… it was Undyne, wasn’t it. I suppose, as head of the royal guard, she probably had… killed humans.”

“No, Papyrus. As far as I know, Undyne’s never met a human either. It was… Sans. Sans was the one who killed the other humans. Sans struck them down, and took them… presumably to Asgore. I don’t want to die, Papyrus. I don’t want to get carried down to  
Asgore, have my soul taken, and thus be responsible for my race’s extinction.”

“N-no! Sans would never do that! He’s too kind! He’d never hurt someone! And if he had… I’m sure he would have told me about it.”

“He knew that you wanted to get into the royal guard really bad, he told me as much. He asked me to play along, to let myself get captured to cheer you up.”

Suddenly, I heard a strange sound. Me and Papyrus whirl around to see Sans standing behind us, and he definitely wasn’t there before. As much as I hated him, I knew this was going to be… unpleasant.

“Brother! Oh, thank goodness you’re here. The human has been… telling awful lies about you. Now you can dispel them, and we can all be friends!”

“What… were they saying, Pap?”

“They told me you… Killed the other humans. But you’d never do that, right?”

Sans didn’t speak a word. For someone who was clearly in a massive amount of emotional pain, he did a great job of hiding it.

“Pap, I… you have to understand that…”

“Say it to me, Sans. Tell me you didn’t kill the humans. Please, just tell me you didn’t.”

“I… can explain…”

“I don’t want an explanation, Sans! I want you to tell me that you didn’t kill six humans and never mentioned it to me! That you didn’t know that the human would die after I captured them! I just want you to say those words! PLEASE!”

There was a long, eerie silence. Sans, seemingly unable to handle the tension, burst into tears himself.

“Sans… why? Why did you never tell me? You knew…”

“Papyrus, I… I’m sorry.”

“Just tell me what happened! I don’t understand, I want to get what’s going on, why this human seems so upset! Why will nobody explain anything to me?”

“I’m sorry, I just… couldn’t… it’s complicated and…”

“You’re my brother, Sans! If you can’t trust me, who can you trust?”

Sans had no words. He simply stood there in tears.

“Sans, I… I believe in you. I believe you can do better. But I need to know what’s going on. I can help you, I want to help you, but not if you won’t explain to me anything.”

“I’m sorry, Papyrus. I can’t be helped. Not anymore.”

And with that, Sans was gone. I… couldn’t speak to Papyrus anymore, and fearing an outburst, I sneak quietly away into the caverns of waterfall. Sometimes the truth hurts more than a knife. Believe me, I would know.


End file.
